

If I had a nickel for every time I read a book about a boarding school with vampires that had the cover art done by Kevin Wada, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice. I enjoyed the story and watching the mystery of their reality unfold, though there were some parts that made me double take. Kat was very much the white savior here, which was very annoying at times and is why I bumped my rating down. I really liked the vibes of the book, with a vampire boarding school in autumn. Something that confused me though was Kat's mom and her lack of communication. I know she explains everything, but so many problems could have been avoided by just talking to her daughter.


snowseau finished a book
7h

Youngblood
Sasha Laurens
Voor fans van Vampire Diaries en dark academia: twee queer tieners op een vampierkostschool moeten het opnemen tegen heel het vampierrijk als ze een samenzwering op de campus ontdekken⦠Kat Finn en haar moeder kunnen nauwelijks rondkomen van leven onder de mensen. Net als alle vampieren moeten ze Haema drinken, een dure synthetische bloedvervanger, om te overleven. Dit omdat bijna de hele mensheid is besmet met een virus dat dodelijk is voor vampieren. Kat kijkt niet uit naar een onsterfelijk leven waarin ze amper geld heeft, maar als ze hoort dat ze is toegelaten tot Harcote, een prestigieuze school die in het geheim alleen voor vampieren is, weet ze dat haar leven op het punt staat te veranderen... Taylor Sanger is opgegroeid in de rijke vampierwereld, maar ze heeft genoeg van hun conservatieve waarden. Vooral als het gaat om seksualiteit, want ze is openlijk lesbisch. Ze hoeft nog maar twee jaar Harcote te doorstaan voordat ze vrij is. Maar als ze ontdekt dat haar nieuwe kamergenoot Kat Finn is, schrikt ze enorm. Want lang geleden waren zij en Kat beste vriendinnen, en dat is niet goed afgelopen. Wanneer Taylor vervolgens op het dode lichaam van een vampier stuit en Kat een schokkende ontdekking doet in de archieven van de school, realiseren de twee zich dat er duistere geheimen zijn op Harcote ā geheimen die hen verbinden met de machtigste figuren in het vampierrijk Ć©n met het synthetische bloed waar ze allemaal van afhankelijk zijn.


snowseau is interested in reading...
11h

Black Sun
Rebecca Roanhorse
The first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic. A god will return When the earth and sky converge Under the black sun In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a manās mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created a ābrilliant world that shows the full panoply of human grace and depravityā (Ken Liu, award-winning author of The Grace of Kings). This epic adventure explores the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in this āabsolutely tremendousā (S.A. Chakraborty, nationally bestselling author of The City of Brass) and most original series debut of the decade.


snowseau commented...
1d
I'm also going to try to do only nonfiction for Curriculum! I haven't done anything else to customize it yet other than that, but it's still pretty early on.
Just wondering if there are any interesting modifications that people are doing for specific challenges on HRCYED, especially since customization is kind of a theme for this year.
Either to make things more difficult:
Like personally there are a few challenges that I decided I wanted to try to do all nonfiction for specifically for Curriculum and Mother Nature.
Or to align with a goal/make it slightly easier with your reading taste:
For instance, I'm considering doing an "oops all rogues" choose your party with everyone being different subclasses just because I keep on running into fantasy books where the main character is undisputably a rogue in one way or another. (I know this is directly breaking a rule and that there's a prompt spell for something adjacent, but it's a customization for me specifically and I don't really plan on submitting stuff to Qwordy anyway, this is just a fun thing for me!)


snowseau started reading...
1d

Youngblood
Sasha Laurens
Voor fans van Vampire Diaries en dark academia: twee queer tieners op een vampierkostschool moeten het opnemen tegen heel het vampierrijk als ze een samenzwering op de campus ontdekken⦠Kat Finn en haar moeder kunnen nauwelijks rondkomen van leven onder de mensen. Net als alle vampieren moeten ze Haema drinken, een dure synthetische bloedvervanger, om te overleven. Dit omdat bijna de hele mensheid is besmet met een virus dat dodelijk is voor vampieren. Kat kijkt niet uit naar een onsterfelijk leven waarin ze amper geld heeft, maar als ze hoort dat ze is toegelaten tot Harcote, een prestigieuze school die in het geheim alleen voor vampieren is, weet ze dat haar leven op het punt staat te veranderen... Taylor Sanger is opgegroeid in de rijke vampierwereld, maar ze heeft genoeg van hun conservatieve waarden. Vooral als het gaat om seksualiteit, want ze is openlijk lesbisch. Ze hoeft nog maar twee jaar Harcote te doorstaan voordat ze vrij is. Maar als ze ontdekt dat haar nieuwe kamergenoot Kat Finn is, schrikt ze enorm. Want lang geleden waren zij en Kat beste vriendinnen, en dat is niet goed afgelopen. Wanneer Taylor vervolgens op het dode lichaam van een vampier stuit en Kat een schokkende ontdekking doet in de archieven van de school, realiseren de twee zich dat er duistere geheimen zijn op Harcote ā geheimen die hen verbinden met de machtigste figuren in het vampierrijk Ć©n met het synthetische bloed waar ze allemaal van afhankelijk zijn.


This was a decent enough story about facing your demons (figuratively and literally), but I was constantly distracted by the audiobook narrator. The general narration was fine, but I hated every time a character spoke; Cordelia always yelled everything, Veronica sounded like a robot, and everyone else just had really annoying, grating voices. The tone used during dialogue also just didn't match what was being said. I wish I had read a physical copy, because I do think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I did.
As for the book itself, the plot was fairly straightforward (not in a bad way) and there were some elements I wosh were developed more, like the romance between Cordelia and Veronica, and Cordelia's relationships with both her parents. I know this story is about her facing her abuser, but it felt a little superficial. Maybe because I felt like I didn't know Cordelia enough? My favourite character was Fred because who doesn't like a non-traditional demon character? I also liked Dustin, but mostly because I think he fit the vibes of the book so well.


snowseau finished a book
1d

Damned If You Do
Alex Brown
Queer Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Filipino folklore in this horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon. Seven years ago, Cordelia Scottās abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes. Sheās never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is...missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that heās actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear ā then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another Help him with a ālittleā demonic problem, or sheās doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father. The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.


Sky Daddy
Kate Folk


snowseau commented...
1d
Between both physical and digital collections, I have:
7 loans: Damned if You Do by Alex Brown Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (ebook and audiobook) Youngblood by Sasha Laurens Dreamland by Sarah Dessen The List by Patricia Forde Cross Stitch Cabinet of Curiosities by Grace Isobel
0 ready for pickup 0 in transit
194 holds, 190 suspended I'm first in line for all 168 of my physical holds, but I don't want any of them right now.

i havenāt posted in the PBC in timeeeeeee but i was just going through my library acc and thought it would be fun to discuss our current stats togetherš„³
i primarily use the physical library as libby for my city has very few titles but the physical libraries are STACKED (pun intended š) as there are 25+ libraries in my city!
currently i have:
7 loans: greenteeth rewitched the incandescent death of the author the reimagining of thornwood house we have always lived in the castle the dead of winter: the demons, witches and ghosts of christmas
2 ready for pick up: nevermoor uncharmed
4 in transit: the time of green magic the crescent moon tea room piranesi the girl who drank the moon
9 holds: a wizardās guide to defensive baking (1st) the ornithologists field guide to love (1st) the keeper of magical things (1st) disenchanted (2nd) nettle & bone (2nd) all systems red (2nd) summerween (3rd) agnes auberts mystical cat shelter (4th) i who have never known man (21stš)
what about you? which on your holds are you most looking forward to?
iām eagerly awaiting A Wizardās Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher which my local branch have on order following a request i madeš§āš³
eta: the book titles cause Iām a silly goose and donāt put them originally!!


snowseau commented...
1d
That song-book pairing is perfect! Thank you for sharing the history of the song, I never would have known about it otherwise.

Books that remind you of a particular song or songs or vice versa. The song doesn't need to be the exact replica of that book, focus more on the vibes. We can do it with characters as well. For example a song for rin from the poppy war - are you satisfied The book vicious - monster by seventeen
P.S. help me find a book ( or a book with a relationship) with the same vibe as off my face by Justin Bieber.


snowseau commented...
1d
Unless you export the ebook file to another reading app, there is no way to scroll in Libby books. If you're reading a magazine and have it in article mode you can, but not for ebooks. Hopefully they add this feature eventually because although it's not a feature I would use (I use a Kobo), I know a lot of people would benefit from it for accessibility reasons like using the top of the device as a line guide.

does anyone know if there is a ācontinuous scrollā mode on Libby thatās available instead of the āpage turningā mode thatās defaulted on the app?
i know the kindle app has this feature available but i prefer Libby so i hope it offers it too!! i just have a hard time actually reading with the page turning mode instead of scrolling for some reason; i like keeping my eyes fixed in one spot on the screen i think is the thing? idk lol does anyone relate?


snowseau commented...
1d
Do people really not open their special editions? I get not reading those copies (I don't either), but I always flip through them just in case there are pictures or fancy end papers or something. If I bought a book with no words in it, you bet I'll be throwing hands.
To all the trophy limited edition collectors who never open them because they are trophies - a short horror story. Don't you ever worry that there might not be words? I saw some limited editions being resold on eBay and I was like... What if there are no words? Collectors would never know because turning the pages can mess up the sprayed edges and spines and the sellers know that. So what if this expensive edition has no words and no one has found out? Just thought I'd share that thought so it could haunt you too š


snowseau commented...
1d
Currently Completed:
I read a book that I thought would complete the autumn side qwest (šThe Book of Autumn), but it had nothing to do with the season, so I guess I'll be doing the moon qwest instead. I currently have šThe List checked out for that.
Right now, I'm reading šDamned if You Do by Alex Brown, which I'll probably use for US states and animal families.
I also just checked to see if there were any squares I'm almost done with (nope), and i just found out I have 7 that I haven't even started yet š
10 weeks already! How did the last week go?
If you don't know what HRCYED is, it's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do. It spans the whole year, from july 7th 2026 to july 6th 2027. I made a post with all the details šover here earlier this year. You can of course join anytime. There's the normal challenge (75 to 150 books needed to finish) and a simpler version with only 25 books needed. There's even a kids and teens version.
Sorry everyone, I'm a day late. Oops! Not much to report on my side. I finished Salman Rushdie's essay collection and that finished my bookception square! I loved the book and am already hunting the second hand market for his other essay collections (not sure I'm interested in his novels though)
Other than that, I've been listening to Beastly Britain by Karen R. Jones as my audio nonfiction. It'll go into the animal family square when I'm done. Hopefully this week? We'll see. It's the book I listen before I go to sleep so it'll depend on how tired I am.
And I'm still in the middle of my qwest book which is Dracula! I finally tackled this one (it's been on my tbr for forever) and am absolutely loving it. I'm doing an audio adaptation and it's glorious. It's also 21h long soooo that takes time. But halfway through, this book has been a great surprise and I didn't think I would like it as much as I'm liking it. It's so good.
What about you?


snowseau commented...
1d
It was one of the book choices we had for independent reading assignments in high school. I picked it, got three sentences in, then switched it for something else š
Itās confession time!
Drop a reading confession in the comments⦠if you dare š
Some examples: ⢠Iāve never read __________. ⢠I only bought ___________ for the cover š¤·āāļø ā¢ I didnāt understand the ending of __________. ⢠I always skip the authorās note š
Letās hear those confessions! āØ


snowseau started reading...
2d

Damned If You Do
Alex Brown
Queer Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Filipino folklore in this horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon. Seven years ago, Cordelia Scottās abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes. Sheās never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is...missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that heās actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear ā then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another Help him with a ālittleā demonic problem, or sheās doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father. The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.


I would have expected a book with "Autumn" in the title to have something to do with the season but alas. I didn't like Cella as a main character. She was annoying and naive, claiming to be fairly intelligent and the leading expert in her field, but there was absolutely no evidence of that in the story. Every time she was presented with a clue or lead, she would either ignore it or someone else would tell her not to worry about it. She was trying to investigate and possible suspects were being difficult and hiding things from her, but she didn't find it suspicious at all. I didn't like the romance between her and Max, it felt very forced because there was no chemistry between them, just the fave that they're apparently "magical soulmates" (which I still don't completely understand). The book was set up to be read like a research paper, but there were so many scenes that I don't think any academic would consider publishing (they were obviously included for our benefit, but I honestly would have preferred to do without). The footnotes were weird and unnecessary, only adding a sentence or two from another character's perspective. Why? What was the point?